Alleged gang member charged in Harvey murder
Family has faced two murders, two attempted murders and a shot-up home in its feud with gang

March 10, 2007
By Kim Janssen Staff writer
A family's long ordeal at the hands of a street gang may have come to an end Friday when Cook County sheriff's police and prosecutors did what Harvey police were unable to do -- charge Selvintez Doty with murder.

Doty, 24, gunned down Jesse Santillan outside Santillan's home in the 16500 block of Emerald Avenue on Valentine's Day 2006, according to the charges.

Santillan, 16, who was shot several times, was targeted by Doty because he had broken the Latin Kings' code by trying to leave the gang, Santillan's family said.

His murder was followed by a brutal campaign of intimidation against the family by the gang, whose members shot up the family's home, killed Santillan's uncle in July, tried to kill his mother and his 12-year-old sister in November and were involved in the death of his cousin, Rolando Becerra, on Feb. 4, according to prosecutors.

Charges in all four cases were filed in recent weeks after a Jan. 24 raid by state police and County sheriff's police on the Harvey police station in which several murder-case files were removed.

Doty and his brother Bobby Doty, 22, are charged with the attempted murder of Edith Garcia, Jesse Santillan's mother, and her daughter as a result of the raid.

Reyes Aranda, 19, also is charged in that case and is accused of killing Raphael Santillan, 57, Jesse's uncle.

Adrian Castro, a friend of Becerra, faces involuntary manslaughter charges in Becerra's death. Becerra was fleeing the Latin Kings when a gun accidentally went off in his face as Castro passed it to him, prosecutors said.

The charges filed Friday against Selvintez Doty tie up the last remaining major case believed to be connected to the ongoing Latin Kings' campaign against the family, sources said.

Garcia declined to comment Friday, citing ongoing concern for her family's safety.

Selvintez Doty is scheduled to appears in court Monday at the Markham courthouse.



Kim Janssen may be reached at
kjanssen@dailysouthtown.com
or (70 633-5998.